Advice you'd give your MPB younger self!

[AB0274]

Hi, I'm Will, a 27 year old MPB sufferer here!  I've been a long-time lurker on the Hair Restoration Network and wanted to share my story. I’ve always found the network to be extremely supportive and informative and a particular shout out to fellow Aussie @Gatsby and others. 

 

I first noticed my hairline starting to weaken when I was about 24. It started with whispy little baby hairs around the forehead and temple and over the last three years has progressed. At first I didn't take much notice of it, but in recent months I feel I've started losing ground faster and faster. 

As a young kid I always had thick, copious amounts of hair. My Dad - now in his mid 60s - still does. I always assumed I was destined to inherit is lot! 

 

What got me worried or "the moment" you could call it was about a year ago when I was at the beach. I'd been for a swim, had wet hair and a friend had taken some photos of the group. I noticed my wet hair had lost ground around the forehead and from that moment, hair loss has been a seed growing in my head (and on it quite literally). 

 

When my hair is dry and styled, I'm quite happy with how it looks. If the appearance I have today is what I can maintain - I would be content. But I have accepted the fate of MPB and the way things are going... downhill slowly. I'm fine to accept MBP, I just find it hard to accept it in my 20s and 30s. 

 

Which led me to the Hair Restoration Network and spending hours and hours of reading from similar MPB sufferers  

 

About 3 months ago I noticed this revolution of hair transplants among people my age - 20s/30s and the emerge of automated machines (one called the ARTAS machine). From the marketing campaigns and healed results, there look to be some solid outcomes, but I felt it would be unwise to invest $20,000 at the first option, without more research and consultation. And the advice from the network and others has probably saved me from making rushed, uninformed decisions. I was ignorant in thinking I could throw money, have a procedure and 'fix' the issue. 

So where I'm at: 

So far, I've been doing desktop research and I've seen two GPs.

• The first was my family doctor - certainly no expert in MPB, but recommended and prescribed oral Finasteride 1mg. My family GP was supportive, optimistic and encouraged me to do it. Said that most of his patients had positive experiences with Finasteride and were still on it some years later. 

 

• The second GP, was one referred to me by a friend. He offered a different route - Dutasteride 500mcg daily or EOD and Minoxidil 2.5mg daily. This doctor was supportive, but leaned very heavily on warning of the symptoms particularly around libido and sex drive. He asked - is hair worth low libido etc. 

So far I have a filled script for Finasteride and it's siting on my bathroom sink, but have just been contemplating my next move. If I fast forward to what I want to achieve - my goal would be to stabilise my hair loss, perhaps even strengthen my hairline using medication and consider a surgical options in time, to restore my hairline from 2-3 years ago. 

So with that - I would love to hear more about your MPB stories and pick your brains and wisdom for people further down the journey + any advice if you were in my situation.

 

• What you feel are the best tools/treatments to slow down the rate of MPB and/or growth? 
• And when it comes to side affects, how prominent you feel these are from your observations and time in the community? I've read some awful examples of irreversible side effects etc. 

In terms of Finasteride / dutaseride - I feel there is a lot of stigma around these still, given a side effect is related to ‘manhood’. When I mentioned to my yoga instructor about considering it, he was horrified i would consider taking something that affected my testosterone levels and libido. 

For me, the libido side effect is slightly worrying., but I am comforted by some of the studies into this which show the rate is relatively low and have seen low libido rates in comparable placebo studies. I otherwise have no health conditions, exercise daily and try to eat and drink a healthy lifestyle.

With that, my rant is over! I'll try and send some hair pics through as I work out how. 

[StillAlive]

Welcome to the board, brother!

The 'Big 3' treatment (Minox+Fin+Nizoral 2%) has not really changed and remains the 'gold standard' for non surgical hair maintenance. Ideally, this regimen will stabilize your loss and strengthen your donor area for a future hair transplant. Not all men respond the same way to the treatment, there are examples of super responders with zero side effects, there are dudes who only got side effects and saw no benefits and a lot of men in the middle. It's not a 'silver bullet' by any means, but it's what we have at the moment. There's also Saw Palmetto if you'd rather go the natural route, but it's efficacy is about 40% less than finasteride at the tradeoff of no side effects. Again, SP may not work for you, every man responds differently. 

Depending on the extent and aggression of your hair loss and your response to treatments, you may be able to hit 35 or 40 with a solid NW that will allow you to make the most of an HT. And don't be afraid to buzz your head if you lose enough hair that styling it becomes a nightmare, it's a tremendously liberating experience. 

Good luck and Gods speed  

[NARMAK]

"Do NOT fear Finasteride!"

That's the plain and simple advice to my 18 year old self and also "Buy/Mine Bitcoin!!!, it reaches $65k!!!" lol. 

I think the fear mongering in 2008 put me off the medication but am grateful i still had enough hair to save with medication now and have a good shot with any HT even a decade plus later. 

Good luck on your journey and i agree with the above post. The "Gold Standard" of treatments pretty much remains unchanged but perhaps we can say Microneedling with a derma pen, oral Minoxodil and laser therapy data has improved for current regimens to be decided on. 

[AB0274]

When it comes to Finasteride, what should I expect from shedding? (Again, I take it it varies person to person). 
 

but I often hear of the "shedding cycle" when you start Finasteride. Is this shedding at the same rate you would untreated, or does it accelerate and then subside? All going well 

[AB0274]

@NARMAKhahaha 🤑

[NARMAK]

13 minutes ago, AB0274 said:

When it comes to Finasteride, what should I expect from shedding? (Again, I take it it varies person to person). 
 

but I often hear of the "shedding cycle" when you start Finasteride. Is this shedding at the same rate you would untreated, or does it accelerate and then subside? All going well 

Finasteride can cause weaker hairs to accelerate into the shedding phase and the loss of density from this makes people feel like it didn't work etc. not knowing it takes 3 months or so for a hair cycle. 

I strongly suggest people stay on the medication for a minimum of 12 months and evaluate with monthly progress pictures to compare with their base line. 

If you respond positively to Finasteride, you can see improvements even up to 10+ years. Google the Finasteride  10 year Japanese study to see picture comparisons. 

I personally am heading into my 2nd year on medication and hoping it has continued to improve things but i also think i have to address other things with my diet, vitamin levels etc. 

[Curious25]

My advice to my young self would be; 

- Consult with a reputable HT Dr

- Take finasteride 

- Wash 2x a week with Nizoral 

- Understand that the majority of fear mongers online are hypochondriac, pessimistic radicals  

OP only if you are looking to regrow, then consider minoxidil (topical or oral). 

[Viney]

I got a script to oral finasteride from a Dermatologist in 2016 (I was NW1 or NW2 at this point) and I thought it was doing nothing so I stopped using it after 3-6months.

3-4 years later my hairline was gone 🤦‍♂️

Now I'm trying to catch up again with stronger medication but my hair will never be the same.

Edited December 15, 2022 by Viney

[jr1986]

Unfortunately my experience was different, I always thought if my hairloss got bad enough I could take fin and be fine. 

Sadly I did have horrible sides, so I've no regrets not taking it earlier. Now on topical fin, no side but not sure its doing any good either

[Gatsby]

To my younger 18 year old self, 'Do nothing. Do absolutely nothing.'

[mister_25]

To my younger self (18-19 years old)

There is treatment, it works, don't listen to people who know nothing about hair loss.

Be Proactive, stop it before it gets worse.

[BaldDude]

"Shut up and take finasteride, and keep using minoxidil".

[TorontoMan]

5 hours ago, Curious25 said:

My advice to my young self would be; 

- Consult with a reputable HT Dr

- Take finasteride 

- Wash 2x a week with Nizoral 

- Understand that the majority of fear mongers online are hypochondriac, pessimistic radicals  

OP only if you are looking to regrow, then consider minoxidil (topical or oral). 

Ditto

The perceived side effects from fin could be, for some men, on par with the perceived side effects (if not greater) from hair loss. Three years on now after avoiding it for a year prior, I'm satisfied with the trade-off

Edited December 15, 2022 by TorontoMan

[MisterBreakfast]

"Hey dumbass, take dutasteride.  Yes, even though no male in your family has hair loss, you're getting a bad case of DPA.  Unlucky for you but you can stop it in it's tracks.  Also don't see NVDA stock until 2021. And oh yeah, maybe ditch your current fiancé, you have some good times together, but it's not gonna work out and it's gonna cost you some hair."

 

 

Edited December 15, 2022 by MisterBreakfast

[AB0274]

Thanks everyone for their words of wisdom! I'm feeling comforted with the FIN journey. Would you recommend easing into it with FIN, or just taking the 1mg as prescribed daily? And if I was looking at oral minox too, should I just throw them together at once? 

[AB0274]

Just wanted to report back - I'm now on the finasteride journey (1mg/daily) and humbled to have access to FIN and the depth of knowledge of this forum! I've decided to hold on minoxidil for now - do you think this is a prudent measure to first see how finasteride works for me? 

Early days, but no sides as yet and hoping to see some progress in the coming 6-12 months. One thing I have noticed is a change to my sleeping pattern. I generally sleep at 10/11pm and wake at 7am. I've noticed since starting FIN, myself waking up a lot earlier.. Nothing significant and not affecting energy levels at all. 

[Judelaw]

Best advice is to take your meds and spend a year or two away away from hair loss forums just living life. Fin is not ruining your sleep and if you go searching for side effects I promise you will find them.
 

As for the original Q I would tell myself to start Dutasteride immediately at 18 and never visit Tressless in my life. When you’re young you don’t understand that 5-10% of people are hypochondriacs with serious mental health issues, and they are disproportionately loud on forums. 

[AlexMeister21]

I would have tried getting on Fin earlier, though I'm not sure if it has had much of an effect for me after a year of use. I would also tell myself to avoid the hokey stuff like balayam or scalp exercise. I remember when I was 18, I used to follow Tom Hagerty's scalp exercise where you raise your eyebrows up and then engage your occipitalis muscles by pulling your ears back or something like that. Luckily I did not develop forehead wrinkles from that.

I would tell my 2021 self to not ignore red flags or criticisms of a doctor and not to skimp on research.

Edited January 9, 2023 by AlexMeister21